..Well, Minnesota has
a law, not much of one, but they are graded a C-
They require schools to have a policy, but there's no accountability and
no date set to have that policy in place. Pretty lame. The
only good thing is that they DO include cyberbullying. Below the
law, Judy Kuczynski, President of Bully Police USA, writes about the Minnesota
School Boards Association's Policy on bullying and harassment.

Each school board shall adopt a written policy prohibiting intimidation
and bullying of any student. The policy shall address intimidation and
bullying in all forms, including, but not limited to, electronic forms
and forms involving Internet use.

In July of 1993, the Minnesota School Boards Association prepared
a policy prohibiting harassment and violence. it has been touted as
a flagship policy in the US and other states have been encouraged to follow
Minnesota's example (Fried & Fried, 1996). However, this policy is
sadly lacking in definitions and provisions for emotional violence also
known as peer harassment, peer abuse, and emotional violence. The point
is that the policy specifically defines and outlines harassment and violence
involving sexual, racial, gender, political, and religious harassment.
There
are no provisions for emotional abuse.

When our daughter was surrounded by older girls and spit on in the girls
room while at the prom, nothing was done despite the fact that we reported
it. The girls denied it and so did witnesses except for the girl who told
us about it. She was a friend of our other daughter, Tina's older sister
and the school said it was the friend's word against the other three and
un named witnesses. Sitting was not considered to be a threat.
We found that the school was hardly interested or concerned about the
hell our daughter was going through even when a bomb was drawn on
her locker with the words "You are mine." They questioned students who
denied their involvement or knowledge of the involvement of others. It
wasn't until a bomb exploded in our mailbox that the school took action.
At that time they questioned the ones we caught. These students denied
that we were targeted and stated they were just experimenting and that
the incident was an unfortunate coincidence. That was good enough for the
school. A campaign began (by her classmates) to punish her for her parents
reporting the incident to the sheriff! We did not press charges. The county
brought charges against them. However, we did testify. The parents of the
accused bombers sent word to us through the county attorney that
"Tina was a cry baby and you are over-reacting."

Our daughter survived. She left high school and went to the community
college where she made many wonderful friends and thrived. But she was
killed in a car accident the day before Thanksgiving in what would have
been her senior year. It doesn't appear that the school system learned
anything from the experience. They certainly did not try to reach out to
us. They were always extremely concerned about the rights of those we suspected
were involved in harassing her. Their "interventions" only intensified
the harassment she was experiencing.

I don't know how to fix this problem. I'm not sure that laws can be
written to reflect the kinds of assault, the intensity and viciousness
of the harassment she experienced. Teachers ignored it, didn't see it,
or dismissed it. Administration did not believe it. School counselors advised
us to home school her but they did not discuss the problem with school
administration. It seems that everyone's "hand were tied." If I sound frustrated,
its because I am. Teachers have dismissed my concerns because I "sound
angry." From what I have witnessed with my three kids, this kind of harassment
is far more prevalent than the 30 percent reported by the National Resource
Center for Safe Schools (NRCSS). It is so common and such a part of youth
culture that kids often don't realize that what they have witnessed or
received is harassment. It is so sophisticated that teachers are unaware
of it often when it happens under their noses. Besides the shame that is
attached to it there is also a powerful code of silence. This code effects
adults (including parents) as well as young people. Only those desperate
enough and dumb enough to believe that adults can and will do something
about it are willing to report it. Until people know the truth about peer
harassment, it will be difficult to turn things around.